


sit back and relax a while

by NoShipsLikePartnerships



Series: 1day1newmann challenge [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Movie: Pacific Rim (2013), Vacation, because these two have earned some time off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoShipsLikePartnerships/pseuds/NoShipsLikePartnerships
Summary: Once the world isn't ending anymore, they have more free time than they know what to do with.(Day 1: Leisure Time, written for the 1day1newmann challenge)
Relationships: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Series: 1day1newmann challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728742
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	sit back and relax a while

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a day late, but considering I only found out about this challenge last night, and only started writing this morning, still not too bad I guess? Because I was also working on today's challenge (which I hope to have up shortly) I didn't spend as much time editing this one as I normally might have, so hopefully it's not too rough.
> 
> Title from 'Take Your Time (Do It Right)' by S.O.S. Band, a song I actually discovered as I was working on this.

Once the world isn't ending anymore, they have more free time than they know what to do with.

The lab has been cleaned out, and their research packed away, to be stored off-site somewhere, as the Shatterdome waits to be shut down. The once-crowded base is almost empty, now. Only Hermann and Newt, and a few others, remain, which certainly feels familiar. All that's left is to pack up their personal belongings. And, of course, figure out what they're going to do next, though without the threat of the kaiju, and the urgency that came with it, there isn't really any rush.

After years of working nearly non-stop, Hermann reflects, it feels strange to suddenly have leisure time.

"How about a vacation?" Newt suggests. He's perched on Hermann's bed, beside the open suitcase, having followed Hermann to his quarters even though he has his own packing to do.

"A vacation?" Hermann echoes.

"Yeah, you know, go somewhere and just... do nothing. _Relax_. You do know how to relax, right?" Newt jokes.

Hermann frowns, as he realizes that he doesn't, actually.

Either it's obvious by the look on his face, or it's the Ghost Drift, but Newt blinks as he says, "Oh. You don't."

Between the previously looming apocalypse and the way he was brought up, Hermann never really had the chance to relax. 'Doing nothing' always just seemed so unproductive, a waste of time when he could be doing something useful instead.

"You've never even been on vacation?" Newt asks incredulously, and he's definitely relying on the Drift, now, which Hermann thinks is cheating slightly. "And no, the Gottlieb family reunion of 2009 does not count, because _yikes_ that was not relaxing."

"If you already know," Hermann sighs, folding another shirt, "then why are you asking?"

Newt shrugs. "I dunno. Gotta say something."

"No, actually, you do not."

"We should go to the beach," Newt continues, ignoring him.

Hermann turns to him, baffled. "Why on earth would you want to?"

He would have thought that Newt in particular would want to stay as far away from the water as possible, after what he'd been through. That it would only remind him of the kaiju, and his terrible ordeal in the Bone Slums, of all that he'd seen of them in the Drift—all that they'd _both_ seen, and Hermann shudders a little at the memory.

Newt picks up a pair of socks from the pile on the bed, and plays with them a little. "Because they're gone."

"I don't understand."

"Do you know how long it's been since I've been to a beach? In a way that didn't involve Kaiju Blue cleanup efforts, I mean," Newt specifies. "I used to go all the time when I was in Boston.The kaiju are _gone_ , and it's safe now, and I... I miss it, Hermann. I want to see the ocean again."

With each word, Hermann can feel Newt's longing more and more, the ache of wanting to do something he used to love. Something that had been taken away from him.

Hermann takes the socks back, and places them in the suitcase. "Alright."

"Really?"

"Yes," Hermann says, smiling, "really."

Newt grabs him and pulls him onto the bed, where Hermann lands with an indignant squawk, and starts peppering him with kisses.

"Newton, we have to pack—"

"We can take a break," Newt insists, batting his eyelashes up at Hermann.

" _You_ haven't even started, yet."

"Whatever, we've got time."

Hermann looks down at him, relenting. "Yes, I suppose we do."

Doing nothing, as it turns out, ends up being quite nice.

They rent a house on the beachfront, on the other side of the world. The weather is warm, but not too hot, and as it's not tourist season yet, it isn't as busy as it otherwise might be. Some mornings, they sleep in late, and others, they're up with the sun, walking along the water. The sand isn't always sturdy beneath Hermann's cane, but Newt walks arm in arm with him, ready to steady him if needed. In the afternoons, Newt collects seashells while Hermann reads books beneath the shade of the umbrella they've brought along. They stay out until the sun begins to set, then return to the house, where one or both of them attempt to cook dinner, with a success rate of about seventy percent. Their evenings are often spent watching a movie together on the couch, or returning to the beach to watch the stars, stretched out on a blanket. It's been a long time since Hermann's been able to see them so clearly, probably about as long as Newt hasn't been to the ocean, but unlike Newt, Hermann hadn't realized just how much he'd missed them.

They leave the bedroom window open at night, and fall asleep to the sound of the waves against the shore.

Hermann would be content to spend the rest of his life doing this, day after day, though he knows that, eventually, they'll have to return to the real world. But not for a while, still, and he intends to make the most of it while he can.

"You were right," he says to Newt one night, under the stars. It's a bit cooler than usual, so in addition to the blanket they're lying on, they're also snuggled beneath another, heavier one.

"About?"

"About this."

Newt grins. "Well, I mean, I'm not one to say 'I told you so' but—"

"Yes, you are."

"Then I told you so."

Hermann laughs softly. "I'll miss it here."

"We could stay," Newt says. "Retire early and just live here forever."

"Mm, that would be lovely," Hermann agrees. "But you know that we can't."

"Why not?"

"Well, you see, there's this little thing called money," Hermann says. "You might have heard of it."

As much as the PPDC had initially paid well, they'd been on a budget those last few years, which had resulted in severe salary cuts—by the end, he and Newt had practically been working pro bono. Eventually, they'll need to find new jobs. Not that there are a lack of offers, after their contributions to ending the war.

Newt gives a dramatic sigh. "Capitalism."

"I'm afraid that's just the world we live in, dear," Hermann answers. "But... we could come back. Make this a yearly tradition, perhaps."

He likes the idea of having a summer home, of having a place they can return to when they need to get away from it all. He's doesn't know what the future holds, what the world will look like now as it moves forward, but knowing that they could always come back to _this_ would be a great comfort.

"Now you're talking." Newt inches closer under the blanket, and lays his head against Hermann's chest, right over his heart. "Love you," he whispers.

Hermann smiles, even if Newt can't see it in the dark. "I love you, too."

He will be sad to leave this place, when it's time to go. But in the end, as long as they're together, it doesn't really matter where they are.

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on tumblr @chalkstardust and twitter @kaijublueberry


End file.
